Guys,

Does the battery connector really need to be disconnected and does it help with the pressure to take the gas cap off? When replacing the filter

 

Wow, face full of gas, but new filter installed. Was suprisingly clean for having 155K on it. Hope that solves my "jerking" problem, when the truck shifts to OD with minimal accelaration.

 

So I replaced the filter again on my 05 SCAB and got a block before the truck cut out. The rear orange clip fell off and spilt gas into the street. Nice. Does any Ford dealership have the orange clip? Can I get just the clip or both blue/orange clips already attached to the 6-7" coupling line. Is it hard plastic or rubber I wonder. I know it's dirty as ****! I would rather replace anything not metal at this point. Stuffing a new clip into an 8 year old piece of hard plastic/rubber is not recommended even if I can get the old one out without thrashing the hell out of it. Questions questions for a wounded 8 year old scab. Someone please educate me so when I go to the dealer I can be the smug one!

 

I disco'd mine just because it's gas and the vapors are deadlier than the actual liquid. To relieve the pressure, there's a small panel under the hood with the fuel pump pigtail connection under it. Unplug it, start the truck and let it run for a few seconds until it chugs and dies. Pulling the gas cap only relieves pressure on the tank side of the sending unit. From the unit to the engine you have to do it the plug way. Now...realistically (and what I do) just do it in the morning and most of the pressure will be gone without the hassle of the plug (still disco your neg batt term). Use plastic gloves(box of 500 at Costco is $7) and a wad of paper towels. Spillage/spray will be reduced to just mere drippage and no pressure spray at all. Just keep the filter horizontal or breakfast is served!

 

Got my filter changed in just over ten minutes. This and all the other tricks I've learned on this site made it a breeze.

 

For 04, 05, 06 F150's-All engines....For those of you who have damaged the ORANGE clip on the back of the fuel filter, here's the part number from Ford to get the 8" coupler that goes from the *** of the filter to the rest of the line back to the tank.

FUEL FEED PIPE 5L3Z9J280EA is how it's officially labeled by Ford. 9J280B in the fuel system exploded diagram on many sites. (Sorry I don't have one to post) Funky s*** man There are a few with different letters at the end but this one is for the aforementioned truck in the 04-06 years. Fordparts.com and the dealerships all charge $110. I found t on a dozen sites from $68 eBay to $85 elsewhere on average. I'm going to look into Hysteric's plug idea and swapping the pipe should only take minutes.

Why they didn't just run the line to the filter is beyond me. Engineers should all spend a month in a shop fixing their own bright ideas and then reinvent them to be practical for us grease monkeys!

 

The OP is completely wrong about the removal of the orange clips. All you have to do is insert your quick disconnect tool in there and SQUEEZE down on the orange clip from both sides and with some patience it will come off. DO NOT take a flat head screwdriver and pry it off, that will only make you buy a new fuel line or a new clip. Heed my words because I changed my filter yesterday and it looks identical to this guy's filter.

On a more positive note, after 67,000 miles and 3 years of me owning it (not all of those miles were mine) my filter was crystal clear. I was surprised but I guess it goes to show how effective fuel system cleaners can be. I'll be changing it once a year from now on however.

 

I just squeezed the back orange clips lightly with my fingers and ease the filter right out. EZ-PZ It's the front one that takes the tool that's got a tricky way of working but when you do it once that's all and you'll have no issues in the future. Remove filter from frame clamp nice and easy. For the front clip, I put the tool in and slid it until it kinda clicks/stops at which point it's like the rear one and the filter pulls out. The trick is keeping the tool pushed in. I also pop the back one off FIRST with a nice wad of paper towels wrapped around to eliminate spray/spillage. Once the rear one is off you can remove the filter from its clamp (carefully for your fingers sake). I used a pry bar and gentle pressure to ease it out just fine. With the filter dangling now, you can drain it for a quick minute and then get the front clip ALOT easier. Doing it with the filter still clamped is a royal PITA. Trying to slide it while clamped and hold the tool....nah...remove it first. You can also pry the filter from its clamp before removing any clips but for the front one it works better dangling. Lastly because I used a screwdriver once to remove the back clip, I replaced the 8" plastic piece and it clipped in with a beautiful resounding snap. It's called a FUEL FEED PIPE 6L3Z9J280B is the part # if anyone needs to find one and it was around $80 on eBay after I knew what part number/term combo to search for. 9J280A is twice the price so hope you don't need that one! I don't know the difference that jacks up the price. I'm just glad I use the cheaper one.

ANyways, hope this helps at least ...someone.

 

A special thanks for this thread and its contributors for the fuel filter replacement. Our truck sat overnight and this morning I took the cap off the tank prior to doing the work. I was able to change out the fuel filter on the '06 without any problems during my first attempt in 15 to 20 minutes. Also, the gas loss was minimal. Yep, I followed all safety measures and didn't rush the project. The gas in the old filter was dirty.

At a local NAPA store, I bought the specialty tool for the filter for $19.49 and a NAPA filter for $12.49. I'm sure it's a little more for the tool but the guys that own the store and their employees take their job serious and have always helped me with my other past projects. That's the reason I don't mind paying extra for items there.

Once again, thanks to all who contributed to this thread. You may not know it but it made one guy in upstate New York really pleased with the final results.
Peace,
Kellsey

 

That orange clip is NOT to be removed, you simply press clip in and it releases line from fuel filter. Its no wonder why you destroyed it....

 

I replaced my filter this morning after letting it sit over night, well the fuel pressure was still there. So I pulled the fuse an cranked it over a few times,then the line came right off. If your having trouble getting the line off make sure there's no pressure on the line.

 

Do you really need the disconnect tool to do this? I just picked up the filter but don't have the tool.

 

I would not even think of doing it without the tool. It's $10 or less.

 

Yea I just looked it up online, I'll pick it up sometime. I just left advance auto and was in the middle of changing the oil and didn't want to go back out again after letting it sit for awhile for the pressure to go down.

 

Sorry, this is an older post. But it is confusing. Pull up the middle, then push the middle in?